Deva Absenta, fresh from Spain
Published by on May 8th, 2009 3 Comments »
A recent holiday in Spain meant a search for reasonably priced Spanish absinthe, of course! Unlike my trip to Spain last October, I came back to the UK with a bottle this time around. The price was a gorgeous surprise even though the place I bought from was a little tourist shop in Guadalest crammed to its gills with all kinds of kitsch and clutter for the busloads that visit every day.
The first shop had some sort of Devil brand that I did not recognise and judging by the labels and bottles, my guess is that the range was pure tourist nastiness, and likely followed a Czech formula (which I dislike). The bottles looked like something you might find a Spencer’s Gifts, for those who know the chain in the US. Think the same kind of shop that sells fuzzy handcuffs and board games about beer. I left that tourist shop empty-handed.
The shop next to it had Deva Absinthe 70abv 70cl. [Hit the angelic choir sound effect now.] I had done it! Found a Spanish absinthe in a Spanish town and for HALF what I would pay on the internet for an imported bottle. I had the urge to buy two bottles (my husband could claim one at the airport) but decided that until a proper tasting could be done, I would invest in only one bottle. Bargain hunter instincts had to be ignored.
Let’s fast-forward to the tasting. The bottle arrived safely in my luggage, the Spanish liquor seal peeled away, and a couple of shots poured into one of my Pontarlier glasses. Bloody hell, it did not smell good. Disappointed? A bit, but I continued the review based on the scoring guidelines available from Fee Verte. I’ll summarise here:
Colour before water was crisp and bright. Clarity almost as if created in a lab to be the the most transparent green ever. No character there. The aroma from the bottle was very candy liquorice/anise smelling, but in the glass was a harsh chemical scent; industrial and alcohol dominated. The louche was oily and then suddenly opaque, but fortunately the scent changed and the glass was much more appealing to be near. Deva feels a little minty on the tongue, pleasant. The Deva Absenta is not the worst absinthe I’ve had, but after reviewing it unsweetened, a single sugar cube helps a troubled taste grow into something much more palatable.
Would I buy Deva Absenta again? At Guadalest, yes. I certainly paid a fair price for it there. On the internet? I could justify it with these terms: if French absinthe is too sweet or too confection-flavoured for your palate, but Czech is a bit too much like battery acid– go for the Deva. It is somewhere between the two. Its effects are up there with the others in the 140 proof bottles and will give the indulger a pleasant feeling (one glass will soften your nerves), but I do not recommend it for a first experience. There are better for that purpose.
I stick by my rating of Deva Absenta on the Fee Verte scale at around a 58 out of 100. Worth trying for the experience, but whether it’s worth buying again is up to you.
Technorati Tags: absinthe, alcohol, Spain, Spanish
3 Responses to “Deva Absenta, fresh from Spain”
[...] Have had a pretty good day. I’ve been working on some online stuff, and made time to post-process a handful of photos. And I wrote a review of Deva Absenta over on Absinthe Hour. [...]
[...] Deva Absenta, fresh from Spain | AbsintheHour [...]
[...] get the ball rolling, I’m happy to trade a sample of Deva with someone. If interested, let’s talk about it in the comments. And if you have a sample [...]